Managing the process of employee benefits administration can be cumbersome, and done via paper forms, extremely overwhelming for most HR departments to handle. That is why many companies today are turning to online solutions that have workflows to reduce the paper shuffling, account for updated regulations and make the whole process more efficient and enjoyable for everyone involved.

Check out these seven advantages to taking your benefits administration online:

1. Lowers Costs: Online self-service benefits administration costs less. Although online benefits providers do charge fees for the use of their software, compared to the costs of HR staff to manually enroll and keep employees’ records up-to-date, the fees are nominal. Not to mention, there is a savings related to not printing benefit booklets and forms for all your employees.
2. Allows 24/7 Access: Your employees can review their benefits, compare plans and manage contribution details 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This also goes for your administrator who wants to review employees’ coverage and enrollment statuses.
3. Limits Open Enrollment Efforts: An online self-service site frees up HR staff to focus more on strategic initiatives, while keeping the open enrollment process up and running smoothly in the background. It also allows for administrators to easily monitor employees’ enrollment statuses and deadlines.
4. Improves Accuracy: Human data-entry errors can cause big problems when it comes to benefits. Mistakes on the part of a benefits administrator, whether it be a finger misstep or interpretation error, can result in employees being enrolled in the wrong health plan or not enrolled in a plan at all, creating a logistical mess for all involved. Using an online system allows the employee to enter their own data, but provides your HR department an opportunity to cross-check the information for accuracy.
5. Simplifies Personnel Files: With online access to your employees’ information regarding their benefits, contributions, etc., you can eliminate having to print and manually file away their selections.
6. Makes Onboarding Easier: How you onboard new hires can influence their perception of the company. Handing them a folder full of paperwork they have to fill out can be a turn off, especially to digital-driven millennials. Sending them a quick welcome email with a link to “all-things” benefits for them to complete online is much easier and sets a good first impression that the company is up-to-date with technology.
7. Creates Cross-Function Efficiencies: Consolidating your benefit efforts with other HR related efforts, such as payroll, can help improve your overall workforce management efforts. Having systems that integrate and share data can enhance operational efficiencies.

Taking Advantage of Technology

Benefits administration has no doubt gotten harder in recent years, and the stakes are higher than ever. Leveraging today’s technology can ensure your benefits administration process runs much more smoothly, while streamlining daily operations and modernizing the employee experience.

Understanding the importance of efficient benefits management and advantages of web-based administrators, DM Payroll Services integrates its platform with end-to-end benefits solution providers that allow you to easily enroll new hires, update plan choices, monitor employee eligibility and enrollment status, get real-time reporting, initiate automatic payroll deductions upon approval and much more.

Want to start streamlining your benefits administration? Contact us today to learn more about our offerings.